Senate Committee Considers Accelerated Project Delivery

By Nick Goldstein, vice president of regulatory and legal issues, ARTBA

The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) March 6 discussed “The Economic Benefits of Highway Infrastructure Investment and Accelerated Project Delivery.”

Proponents of accelerating project delivery argued there is much more work to be done in reducing delays in the review and approval process. Opponents cautioned that many existing project delivery reforms are not being used and increased efforts at reducing delay could undermine existing environmental laws.

ARTBA has consistently maintained that improvements to the project delivery process can be made without impacting existing regulatory protections. See the Federal Highway Administration’s fact sheet on accelerated project delivery.

Witnesses included Steven Dimetriou, chairman and CEO of Jacobs Engineering Group; Patrick McKenna, director of the Missouri Department of Transportation; and Michael Replogle, deputy commissioner for Policy, New York City Department of Transportation.